The martial law entered into force for the war in Ukraine did not stop the people of the country invaded to take to the streets of many cities – including Kyiv, Odessa, Lepoli and Dnipro – to protest against a controversial law that places the bavaglio on the two main anti -corruption agencies of Ukraine.
With 263 votes in favor, 13 against and 13 abstentions, yesterday the Ukrainian Parliament approved a bill that in fact eliminates the independence of the two institutions, the National Anti-Corruption Office of Ukraine (Nabu) and the special office of the anti-corruption prosecutor (Flavo). The law then arrived on the desk of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who placed his signature on a text that could lead to breakage with the European Union. Let’s see in detail what it is.
Greater power of investigation to Zelensky’s men
The rule, in fact, is crushed the power of the two important authorities of fighting corruption and attributes greater control over investigations to the men of President Zelensky. According to several independent organizations, the reform risks compromising the autonomy of the bodies in charge of investigating the abuses of power, making it more difficult to start investigations on the high officials without the preventive approval of the presidential administration and allowing the government’s interference in cases of high profile corruption.
Based on the approved changes, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General – a figure appointed directly by the Head of State, in this case Zelensky – acquires significantly greater power on the investigative activities of the Nabu and the Sope. In fact, it will be able to give directives to the agencies, reassign the investigations to other bodies, delegate the powers of the Sype to other prosecutors and even archive the proceedings at the request of the defenders. It reports the Kyiv Independentone of the main newspapers of the country from the International echo, which has published a strongly critical editorial towards the executive, launching a warning: “Ukraine risks ending Russia if the government will not cease its internal attacks on democracy”. The harder is the condemnation of the head of the Nabu, Semen Kryvono: “The two independent institutions, Nabu and Far, are in fact made completely employed”.
Zelensky justifies his signature: “Russian spies present in the institutions”
The criticisms, however, were rejected by President Zelensky, who justified his choice not to exercise the right of veto with the promise that “the anti-corruption infrastructure will work”, as written in a message published on Telegram.
The Nabu agency began to operate in 2015, when Kiev tried to bring the country closer to Europe after the 2014 revolution. Since its institution, the agency has discovered widespread corruption cases, also against exponents of the Zelensky administration. The blow inflicted on the agencies came on July 21, when the Ukrainian law enforcement officers conducted carpet search in the Nabu and Flap offices. Fifteen people are now investigated: one is accused of espionage activities in favor of Russia, another would be involved in drug trafficking and would have contacts with pro -Russian groups. The others, on the other hand, are investigated for more generic accusations, such as infringements of the highway code and administrative irregularities. In the meantime, also a well-known Ukrainian activist, Vitaly Shabunin, head of the Ententi-Corruption Center (Antac), the most important non-profit organization of the country, ended up at the center of an investigation because it formally accused of desertion. But it is not surprising that the measure came after the heated criticism against Zelensky’s authoritarian drift.
Adherence to the European Union is at risk
The reform represents a delicate passage for Ukraine, especially in the context of military assistance and the path to European integration. The anti-corruption agencies, in fact, were born in the aftermath of the 2014 Euromaidan revolution as pillars of democratic reforms and breakage with the patronage system represented by the ex-president Filorusso Viktor Yanukovych. The fear expressed by civil society is that, weakening them, the government puts the credibility of the entire reformer process at risk.
The fight against corruption represents one of the key conditions so that Kiev can join the European Union. Not surprisingly, the European commissioner to enlargement, Marta Kos, expressed concern for this against reform that extends the powers of the president and represents “a serious step back” compared to the progress scored by Kiev in recent years.
The approval of the law by Zelensky arrives on the eve of the new round of interviews between Russia and Ukraine in Türkiye. Interviews that, according to the spokesperson of the Kremlin Dmitri Peskov, will be “very difficult”. Moscow, questioned on the law that puts the bavaglio to the anti-corruption agencies of Ukraine, has branded the question as “an internal deal”. A deal that could still like Moscow because it could slow down Kiev’s adhesion process to the EU.
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